Dutch crime levels drop slightly

28 April 2004

AMSTERDAM — A quarter of the Dutch adult population was the victim of crime in 2003, slightly down on crime levels the previous year.

The Dutch statistics office CBS said 4.8 million offences, such as theft, vandalism or violence, were committed in 2003, with 3.3 million victims aged 15 and above.

In 2002, 27 percent of the public aged 15 and above said they were the victim of crime. In the years before that the level was about 25 percent, as it was in 2003.

The slight decrease in common crime was largely due to a decline in theft and vandalism. Some 12 percent of the population reported being the victim of theft, such as burglary, bicycle theft and pick-pocketing, in 2003.

This brought an end to the blip in 2002 when the number of theft victims increased after years of declining rates, the CBS said.

Rates of violence remained constant, however, with about 6 percent of the population confronted by intimidation, assault or sex crimes.

There were a total of 1.1 million violent crimes last year, almost the same as in the two previous years.

Subject: Dutch news + crime in the Netherlands